Posted on Mar 17, 2021
Would I be considered a combat veteran just for being in the combat zones, without ever having to participate in combat?
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I served in desert shield/storm as an army cook for a tank battalion. I never had to participate in any combat myself but was in the combat zones. Would I be considered a combat veteran just for being in the combat zones?
Posted in these groups: 
Operation Desert Shield/Storm
Combat
Operation Desert Shield/Storm Combat
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 75
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I was a signal officer in the 1st ID in the first Gulf War. I never fired a shot. I was always forward of the battalion, and often forward of the division. I watched a tank battle at night. I was shot at three times. Once by our own artillery, once by some ragged looking Iraqis, and once by some benighted soul in a heavy fog in Northern Kuwait. I was a combat vet. You woke up in the morning, not knowing if you were going to be shot at while you fed the troops. You ran the same risks as I. No question. You're a combat vet.
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SGT Frank-John Limiero
MSG Joseph Cristofaro Nothing blank about my service as a Silver Star and Purple Heart recipient.
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SGT Frank-John Limiero
MAJ Ron Peery
You have nothing to prove to me. My opinion of a combat vet is just different than yours. You figure out if you are really a combat vet or just someone who wants the glory. Real war fighters no the difference!
You have nothing to prove to me. My opinion of a combat vet is just different than yours. You figure out if you are really a combat vet or just someone who wants the glory. Real war fighters no the difference!
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SGT Frank-John Limiero
There was no front line when I served. Any tree, any person, any hooch could be your end. Warfare is warfare if you are an actual War Fighter not someone who is fortunate enough to hide behind a "base camp perimeter".
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SGT Frank-John Limiero
If you leave that area to Search and Destroy the enemy only then might you be a combat vet.
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MAJ Ron Peery
MSG Joseph Cristofaro - Most days, the greatest threat I faced was getting puked on by my gunner, who had problems with motion sickness. But the kid would not stay at the FOB. We eventually had to send him back to Kabul because he was in danger of serious dehydration. I'd rather have ten like him than one Frank-John.
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Simple answer. Yes. Anyone tells you otherwise, i.e. badge protectors, tell them to stick it where the sun don't shine.
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SFC R. Lee Linebarger
SGT Frank-John Limiero Got your combat vet bitch! 2 tours. So go fuck off POG!
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SGT Frank-John Limiero
SFC R. Lee Linebarger - Pieces of shit like you are part of the failure in the military. Your arrogance should never be an excuse for phonies that wish they were something their not.
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SFC R. Lee Linebarger
SGT Frank-John Limiero Jealous cause you didn't retire and I did. You are the failure. You and you alone thinking you have the sole exclusive idea of what a combat veteran is and your fucking arrogance alienates you from real patriotic serving men and women. I don't give a fuck about who you are or what you did. I have seen people die in combat, people get maimed and mutilated.
Shit bags like you are who give real veterans a bad name.
Oh and I love how I am living rent free in your pathetic excuse for a head rent free you fucking shit stain!
Shit bags like you are who give real veterans a bad name.
Oh and I love how I am living rent free in your pathetic excuse for a head rent free you fucking shit stain!
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SPC Christopher Perrien
SGT Frank-John Limiero - Chill man, Every knows there are differences between a War Vet, a War-Era Vet and a Combat Vet ,and claiming something different than the truth, is kinda "unofficial stolen valor"
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If you were at a FOB and had to deal with IDF, your a Vet. Leave the wire in a free fire zone is the same, you just didn’t have to fight a battle. But the very real chance was there too, you sign your name you take a chance. The way things are now in you ever set foot in Afghanistan or Iraq your a combat Vet, and no place is really safe. The risk was and still is there.
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SGT Frank-John Limiero
Looking for glory about your service does not mean you’re a combat war fighter...
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SPC Christopher Perrien
It is kinda weird if you look at US Mil/Army/ deaths/KIA per year going back to 1980. We actually lost more people in Cold War per year training in the 1980's, 800-900/yr, (and about 1100(1075?) in 1989 alone IIRC) than in the past 31 years (except for 2 years ) since 1990 IIRC. So the idea of how "deadly" combat has been the past 31 years(including all Desert Shield/Storm /GWOT)is a little(alot) "skewed" IMO. I think our losses broke 1000 in a year only twice since the Cold War ended. IIRC- I am working from memory here.
I recall runing some figures for Desert Storm after it ended , and if those 800K or so troops over there in Iraq/Saudi , had been in the USA for those 6-9 months or so instead , we would have lost twice as many , from training accidents, car accidents/dui's, drug and alcohol overdoes , domestic violence and crime. Or if you just cycled that many people through NTC/ Ft , Irwin. The Sand-box was and is pretty safe. (Yes, I realize some people saw more stuff than others, but the overall KIA/Deaths figures don't lie. I can find/link the US Gov Military annual losses Stat book on this if you like.
Now I didn't research WIA's and injuries , only yearly deaths. We have had alot of WIA's in DS/GWOT , many of them actual, but there is alot of fraud there, so it was/is difficult to compare to troops being injured from all reasons back during the last 10 Cold War years(the 1980's.)
Regards.
I recall runing some figures for Desert Storm after it ended , and if those 800K or so troops over there in Iraq/Saudi , had been in the USA for those 6-9 months or so instead , we would have lost twice as many , from training accidents, car accidents/dui's, drug and alcohol overdoes , domestic violence and crime. Or if you just cycled that many people through NTC/ Ft , Irwin. The Sand-box was and is pretty safe. (Yes, I realize some people saw more stuff than others, but the overall KIA/Deaths figures don't lie. I can find/link the US Gov Military annual losses Stat book on this if you like.
Now I didn't research WIA's and injuries , only yearly deaths. We have had alot of WIA's in DS/GWOT , many of them actual, but there is alot of fraud there, so it was/is difficult to compare to troops being injured from all reasons back during the last 10 Cold War years(the 1980's.)
Regards.
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It's pretty straight forward. To be a "Combat vet" you must have at least one one of the following:
- Combat Action Ribbon (USMC/USN)
- Combat Action Badge, Combat Medic badge, Combat Infantryman Badge (Army)
- Combat Action Medal (Air Force)
- Any award for valor or a Purple Heart (any branch).
EDIT: This is not the legal definition, and I am aware of that. This is merely the "comon sense" definition.
- Combat Action Ribbon (USMC/USN)
- Combat Action Badge, Combat Medic badge, Combat Infantryman Badge (Army)
- Combat Action Medal (Air Force)
- Any award for valor or a Purple Heart (any branch).
EDIT: This is not the legal definition, and I am aware of that. This is merely the "comon sense" definition.
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1LT David Preston
Thank you for your kind words. When I got back from Desert Storm, I contacted my local VA hospital twice in 2 years because my life was falling apart. The first time they told me, "We're really busy right now, but we'll try to give you a call: don't worry about that stuff" and they never called me back. A year later I called in desperation describing some pretty negative life circumstances and said I thought I might have PTSD and the Counselor LITERALLY said, "Oh that's not PTSD, that will go away."
Thankfully, I found a civilian who guided me through the work I needed using EMDR, which was only accepted by the VA as a treatment for PTSD in 2006. After thinking about it for decades, I finally went back to school and got my Masters in Military Social Work and most of my clients are overflow from the overtaxed local VA. I get so ANGRY when I talk with aq Vietnam or Cold War, or the younger men & women who bring home the invisible injuries and wounds the military sometimes appears to still not take as seriously as they do the visible wounds.
I'm glad to hear you found someone to be of assistance; one day soon I'm going to develop a 501C that trains service members out with as much passion as we train them in, and I pray more people like you and the others who share their thoughts on RallyPoint will find their own ways to lead those men & women as they leave the service. Thanks again!
Thankfully, I found a civilian who guided me through the work I needed using EMDR, which was only accepted by the VA as a treatment for PTSD in 2006. After thinking about it for decades, I finally went back to school and got my Masters in Military Social Work and most of my clients are overflow from the overtaxed local VA. I get so ANGRY when I talk with aq Vietnam or Cold War, or the younger men & women who bring home the invisible injuries and wounds the military sometimes appears to still not take as seriously as they do the visible wounds.
I'm glad to hear you found someone to be of assistance; one day soon I'm going to develop a 501C that trains service members out with as much passion as we train them in, and I pray more people like you and the others who share their thoughts on RallyPoint will find their own ways to lead those men & women as they leave the service. Thanks again!
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SFC Michael Barnett
To me, it really is the opposite of what you are saying. You are actually saying you are more of a combat vet, because you have the ribbon or badge to show. Not all who serve are assigned to units that primarily are in the battle. However those who support you, are needed to keep you in the battle. So in reality, we are all combat vets. You are in country, there is no true front line, we all are concerned combat vets!
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SFC Michael Hasbun
SFC Michael Barnett - let's make this more simple then. To be a Combat Vet, you must have actually, personally participated in combat.
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SFC Michael Barnett
SFC Michael Hasbun I see where you are coming from. Yes you might have seen more combat than most, but per regs and legal definition you are no more a combat than the guy that pulled the short straw and ran the Badda Bing his whole tor. Wear your ribbons and badges proud. That is what separates you from other Combat Soldiers.
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Yes, remember every time you went to the FEBA with mermites of chow, you were on the line.
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I was an E-8 when I first deployed to a combat zone (Kuwait in 2002.) I carried a weapon and ammo, but I was not allowed to fire it, not that I ever saw a live enemy.
An iraqi Seersucker missile was fired at Camp Doha early one morning. (This is what the media was improperly reporting as a Silkworm missile.) Because it's primitive radar looks for the tallest thing in the area, it homed in on a radio tower near a theater in Kuwait City, passing over Camp Doha. I had to calm down some panicked people who kept saying, "We're gonna die!"
Later at Camp Victory, Iraq, I went to the latrine about 2 AM and was shot at. The bullet passed over my head, sounding like the largest and maddest hornet in the world. It took me 20 minutes to get my “business” done.
As time went on I was shelled and fired at more times than I can count. I quit counting when I reached 40, and I still had 5 more years in combat zones to serve.
Because of age and rank, I was basically a Fobbit, although not by choice. I was assigned a mission and I accomplished it. I kept my people alive, morale up, fed, supplied, and everything else I was supposed to do.
Some people actually engaged in combat and some of these resent that others didn't have to experience what they experienced. Just because they experienced more results, more fear, more direct action than you did doesn't mean you aren't a combat vet. If we really wanted to play this game, everyone would have to add up every time they were hit and every time they killed or wounded an enemy, minus those times they fired and missed, and then compared those numbers. Then we would have an absolute ranking of who was a combat vet and by how much.
SPC William Sloan, you are the only one who has to be satisfied with your service. I think you are a combat vet, but what does that matter? The only opinion you should be concerned about is the guy in the shaving mirror. Anyone who says otherwise is just butthurt because they think they deserve more respect.
EVERYONE who puts on the uniform signs the blank check and puts their life on the line, and that's worthy of respect. Everyone who served in a war zone is a combat vet, even if they were on a ship hundreds of miles away from the shooting and never heard a shot fired in anger. (I admit, I personally wouldn't call myself a combat vet if that had been my service, but the point is, if you are authorized a combat patch for service in a combat zone, you are a combat vet. That's what the RULES say, and not some butthurt's opinion.)
An iraqi Seersucker missile was fired at Camp Doha early one morning. (This is what the media was improperly reporting as a Silkworm missile.) Because it's primitive radar looks for the tallest thing in the area, it homed in on a radio tower near a theater in Kuwait City, passing over Camp Doha. I had to calm down some panicked people who kept saying, "We're gonna die!"
Later at Camp Victory, Iraq, I went to the latrine about 2 AM and was shot at. The bullet passed over my head, sounding like the largest and maddest hornet in the world. It took me 20 minutes to get my “business” done.
As time went on I was shelled and fired at more times than I can count. I quit counting when I reached 40, and I still had 5 more years in combat zones to serve.
Because of age and rank, I was basically a Fobbit, although not by choice. I was assigned a mission and I accomplished it. I kept my people alive, morale up, fed, supplied, and everything else I was supposed to do.
Some people actually engaged in combat and some of these resent that others didn't have to experience what they experienced. Just because they experienced more results, more fear, more direct action than you did doesn't mean you aren't a combat vet. If we really wanted to play this game, everyone would have to add up every time they were hit and every time they killed or wounded an enemy, minus those times they fired and missed, and then compared those numbers. Then we would have an absolute ranking of who was a combat vet and by how much.
SPC William Sloan, you are the only one who has to be satisfied with your service. I think you are a combat vet, but what does that matter? The only opinion you should be concerned about is the guy in the shaving mirror. Anyone who says otherwise is just butthurt because they think they deserve more respect.
EVERYONE who puts on the uniform signs the blank check and puts their life on the line, and that's worthy of respect. Everyone who served in a war zone is a combat vet, even if they were on a ship hundreds of miles away from the shooting and never heard a shot fired in anger. (I admit, I personally wouldn't call myself a combat vet if that had been my service, but the point is, if you are authorized a combat patch for service in a combat zone, you are a combat vet. That's what the RULES say, and not some butthurt's opinion.)
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SFC Casey O'Mally
As a retired guy, I gotta ask... What's a shaving mirror?
But as for the message at hand, I wholeheartedly concur.
But as for the message at hand, I wholeheartedly concur.
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Short answer - Yes. You were there where you could have been shot at or killed. You are a combat vet.
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